Comments on: Friday, 2/5/10

By: Tanya Mills

Tanya Mills — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 03:58:18 +0000

I just learned that Jean Baptiste NGO DINH DIEM was the first president of South Vietnam!

By: Daz

Daz — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 03:51:29 +0000

I don’t mind spelled-out numbers in the grid, even for items where the numbers are rarely if ever spelled out in practice — it’s just another trick in the constructor’s toolkit.

But I do object to public information signs that read

“[In an emergency] DIAL 9-1-1.”

Despite looking all over the telephone dial, I am unable to locate the hyphen.

By: John Haber

John Haber — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 01:38:54 +0000

I wanted to love the NYT, between the few black squares and the four paired full-length answers, with intriguing and orignial fill. (I too first tried “once in a blue moon” and also “seniors” for “sisters.”) But I have to say that I was just left wondering. What was Lane Bryant? What was the intersection of logger’s contest and a Mexican American? I don’t really understand any of those and don’t care.

By: abide

abide — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 23:04:16 +0000

Martin:

Thanks. Arguing with an ikebana expert is like bringing a knife to a pistil fight.

By: Martin

Martin — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 22:49:28 +0000

Peter,

I guess that’ll do. I’d say that a flower is a modified stem and leaves, and while developing is a modified shoot. The essence of shootness is immaturity, but considering the constraints I’ll withdraw the nit.

How lucky was BEQ that the Colts’ QB is from New Orleans?

And Al’s clue is genius, of course.

By: BethW

BethW — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 22:21:16 +0000

Wow! NYT was delicious. Tough but not impossible, as the short(er) answers gave me just enough to nail the long answers. Joy!

By: abide

abide — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 22:02:48 +0000

I got to test solve the BEQ and did suggest “They may be found at shoots”, but he never listens to me ;)

Flowers are modified shoots bearing modified leaves. In the typical flower, the modified leaves can be grouped into four sets based on appearance and function: sepals, petals, stamens, and pistils. The sepals and petals are lowermost on the shoot toward the sides of the flower. The stamens and pistils are at the tip of the shoot at the inside. (source: internet page about flowers)